Leslie K. Barry

“As Hamlet said to Ophelia, ”God has given you one face, and you make yourself another." The battle between these two halves of identity...Who we are and who we pretend to be, is unwinnable. "Just as there are two sides to every story, there are two sides to every person. One that we reveal to the world and another we keep hidden inside. A duality governed by the balance of light and darkness, within each of us is the capacity for both good and evil. But those who are able to blur the moral dividing line hold the true power.”
― Emily Thorne

“We’re also the battle-hardened survivors of the Great War who reclaimed Palestine from the Turks,” Longie says. Our leaders are describing the boxers and their sons who are the Newark Minutemen. I swell with pride whenever Longie compares us to King David's mighty warriors. The timin’ is lucky that Longie’s got an army of boxers he can pivot into a band of soldiers for the FBI.”
― Leslie K. Barry, Newark Minutemen

“My knuckles look like the inside of a grapefruit, but I punch the bag more. With each hit, I repeat the Newark Minutemen creed: “We train to gain control over our bodies. But to triumph, we wrap our bodies around individual will. With each trial, pain becomes more bearable, motions more familiar, waitin’ more calm. Then it’s our way. Then we are Newark Minutemen.” My limbs begin to feel reconnected to my body. I start to feel whole again.”
― Leslie K. Barry, Newark Minutemen

“With the card, there’s a photo of us from the day Yael taught me to box. The selfie in the mirror. I gulp at the image of our bodies together. My heart feels like its pumping tar through my veins. I wish I had the power to free my hands and shape my own life. But I don’t.”
― Leslie K. Barry, Newark Minutemen